Henry and Mei

Good luck to you tomorrow, Howard... I know completely the complexity of your case, so I wish you such good luck. You got me interested in going to China to find Mei and I am so blessed and wish you the same... Tell them how it is... Henry

Bill, Thanks so much for the email and pic of Li Hong, she looks amazing as usual especially holding the Congrats letter. Sounds like you did not interview? And if you can send me a copy of the RFE to my email. I drop in here occassionally to see the goods news and of course with this process the sometimes horror stories. Mei and I both work a lot and I know you both travel a lot, so if you get close to our area come for a stay or we can travel and see you if in the area. Guessing you are still in Callie, but I was a little confused on the Kansas mention. You both were a great meet during our K-1 interviews in the land of GUZ. That went smooth so I was not expecting any hiccups here....but here always seems less tedious and easier to solve and we are with our wives anyway. Time well spent to keep it that way,,,, Congratulations from South Texas. Henry

Congratulations. One of the main advantages/reasons of being able to call USCIS is to be able to talk to someone about your case. Something you cannot do online... So yes, if you are only checking status, the online info will most likely match. Although my experience is that we were approved several days before our online status was updated.

AWESOME....Way to hang in there. Hope your wife gets to be with her daughter and she is recovering nicely. God speed.

Go for it, Bill. It was a hike for us to go early, but read many doing it for AOS. Since they already have your money again for Bio, get it out of the way, if close and convenient for you. Still keeping the light on for you and really like your new ride...like to take a photo alongside my Vette I bought when in the Navy at Pensacola. Very close in color... Good luck and Mei says Hello to Li Hong

Yep thinking same thing, they totally choked today. Finally checked into this thread, since dyed in the wool Cowboy basically since birth, but it is what it is....and the Cowboys home record is embarrassing in such an expensive house that Jerry built, so feel sorry for you Bill fans. I will never forget watching the Bills playing the then Houston Oilers and were getting whipped and I was hoping the Bills would score to keep it interesting being a playoff game. I think the Oilers scored 3 pts and lost miserably....sometimes tough to be a Texan football fan....miss the Boys of Ole...

I am sure you know this but M = 6, S = 7 and C = 2. Then the 10 numbers...

We did not need AP and filed past 6 months out of status. AP is meant to be faster when filed at the same time though. But the GC trumps AP, so yes, GC and not a long wait. Thank you USCIS. Good luck!

When I first called I was a little surprised and stumped too when the AVR asked for the receipt number. I was thinking numbers and not letters and numbers or possibly her A #. But I typed it in and it worked. We just finished this process and in a surprising 2.5 months from submission to approval -- your mileage may vary. And as I am sure Dan knows the link he provided to VJ shows that some cases that are transfered to Cali are then sent to the local office of the petitioner for interview. The ones shown of course were successful. Good luck! Henry

Yes, David, my case was a K-1. But with all the discussion of EP, which is a choice, how does it compare to snail mail? My case was approved in 7/09 and even then the CR-1s were making great strides and I remember at least a couple of cases making it in at 8 months. Snail mail has not changed. The only difference is that the EP process has been added. From my perspective, if I had to file an IR-1 tomorrow, I would do it with snail mail from what I have seen and read. No big advantage with the EP process and I am fairly certain the case load for petitions has dropped significantly since my K-1 visa appproval. Less cases should make everyone in the pipeline now move faster provided you are on a good path with good petition preparation and presentation. If no one knows then no one knows, but I am not seeing anything amazing right now going EP even though NVC is doing their best I am sure to make it efficient. For my time and effort I am just saying I would go snail mail. If there are cases to prove at least a 2 to 4 month difference then I might think otherwise. Just not seeing it is all I am saying. And if it was 8 months for CR-1 with snail mail when I was going K-1 I would think that process is still the same and possibly faster. Just thinking.

The EP is for CR1 only. SO it's overall time from over several years has gone from about 12 months to 6-8 months. One could do snail mail if they want (maybe those without scanning and PDF capabilities)... but most are doing the EP method. In the past, NVC could take 2-6 months depending on how fast or slow people sent the mail and then waiting for replies on the next step. One can now get through NVC in 3 weeks if they stay on the ball. Also, you now get the interview date from NVC... it does not go to GUZ and sit in 'customs' for a month. As well, NVC gets a copy of the notarial chinese translated papers instead of the medical staff collecting it (although it does get turned in as originals at the interview). So there has been a few changes to the process. Besides simply interested we will be petitioning my wife's mother down the road. So EP was coming of age as I was finishing. How about IR-1s, if I remember correctly they were included also? So my main question if you are willing to humor me, since there should be enough data points now....which is faster provided you are diligent...snail mail vs EP? I thought I was going to be seeing a big difference, but I think both average out about the same. Plus for me anyway, I have been scanning and sending PDFs for over 10 years, but I would much rather run the parts of my package I can thru a copier than my scanner....just thinking And as a side note, before EP I saw how the CR-1s were catching up with the K-3s and I am sure most now do not even bother sending in the K-3. I was watching this trend and yes it was before around a year or more for the CR-1s, but I watched that change during my process and becoming closer to 8 months. If I remember correctly David you are looking at 8 months. So I know there is much ado with this EP stuff, but generally I am seeing 8 months like your case, which was also the case when I was finishing with snail mail. And you would guess that NVC would be now even faster and the process is more streamlined, but looking at the cases here, I simply notice little change in speed. But maybe someone will set a speed record, but I would also think with the economy struggling as it has been since I completed my process, there would be far less petitions. But of course I am guessing that could be checked out as well and maybe the trend is more contrary to the economy... If I had known this would have happened sooner, I would have definitely gone CR-1. I even encouraged my friends that were following my K-1 process to jump ship and go CR-1. They stayed the course though and successful K-1s. We just have to endure more processing and expense, which personally for me is not a big deal, but simply wiser now to go CR-1 I think.

I have been gone a little while, but has all of this changed???? The standard plus or minus a few days was P3 to P4 close to 3 to 4 weeks. Then P4 to interview is very close to a month... I always remember guys trying to calculate the windows of opportunity, but for the most part when I studied the numbers the above was very close. And I did not bother, but some guys really trying to be slick and shave a week to 10 days would have their ladies print out the P3 from online and once they had notification that GUZ sent, they would mail in. And they would save a few days. Personally, I like to have the documents in hand. There are others things to rush and worry about if you must. Yes things have changed. This is electronic processing at the NVC.....all done by email and no snail mail. Since you have to opt in, I am guessing that some are still doing snail mail. Still not seeing how EP is any faster??? Mine took with snail mail -- 6 months from submission to visa and if I had been able to go through Cali then it would have been closer to 5 months....How are you guys now doing???

I have been gone a little while, but has all of this changed???? The standard plus or minus a few days was P3 to P4 close to 3 to 4 weeks. Then P4 to interview is very close to a month... I always remember guys trying to calculate the windows of opportunity, but for the most part when I studied the numbers the above was very close. And I did not bother, but some guys really trying to be slick and shave a week to 10 days would have their ladies print out the P3 from online and once they had notification that GUZ sent, they would mail in. And they would save a few days. Personally, I like to have the documents in hand. There are others things to rush and worry about if you must.

When I was going through the process California was 1 month faster almost to the day than Vermont. My case went through Vermont and we still beat the average by a bunch back then with a 183 day visa process. Not sure what it is now with EP. And back in the day when I got started K-1s out ran the CR-1s by a bunch. Now you are better off going CR-1 unless you want to be married here. Of course, you can ceremonies in China and here if you go the CR-1 route. Heck, if for some weird reason our AOS got messed up, it would still be cheaper and faster to the 10 year card going the CR-1 route. And looking at your case, which looks really short on time and for some reason bombs out then you might seriously consider the CR-1 route, but I think your ages may help. Good luck!

Right off the current I-864 Section 25: 25. Federal income tax return information. I have filed a Federal tax return for each of the three most recent tax years. I have attached the required photocopy or transcript of my Federal tax return for only the most recent tax year. (Optional) I have attached photocopies or transcripts of my Federal tax returns for my second and third most recent tax years. Each of these have check boxes by them. You can check one or even both. As we have been discussing, GUZ wants all 3 years. Just a cold hard FACT. And yes, by all means have available at interview. And if you check the first box, you are saying that you filed the last 3 years, so with all the checking GUZ does, not a surprise to me anyway, that they ask to see them. And the I-864 is for the married folks, but for petitioners including sponsors like me having a fiancee and not using the I-864, since we use the I-134 and is a lot less stringent, we still at GUZ HAD to show all 3 years. Since I am still editing my post, I saw Carl's post. We know that GUZ asks petitioners of both wives and fiancees for all 3 years, BUT I do not see anywhere, where it asks for all 3 years for a I-134 especially if you look at the form. Makes me want to look at other Consulates...maybe As far as stateside, when applying for our AOS I only sent my 2010 Federal Tax return, which made my 2009 return look pitiful including my 2008. So I waited to file my 2010, so unlike at GUZ, I did not want/need a co-sponsor, since looking at my current tax return and my assets I felt/hoped I would be fine and I was. Personally, I want my butt on the line financially, if things here fall apart and not for someone I care about to worry with. Life is all about choices....but at GUZ, they want all 3 years.......do your best or you may see delays... Good Luck!